What Did You Get Last Sunday?

[Deegie]

Probably. Christmas has been so thoroughly marketed as a family day and taken over by football and basketball that a lot of churches, even liturgical churches, cancel anyway. I haven't presided a Christmas Day service since I left Virginia; no one wants it. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday there was some snow out but not a lot. I had a terrible time finding somewhere to take my kids. The Romans had pared down there usual 3 Mass schedule to only 1. I ended taking them to a Lessons & Carols service at the local Methodist Church.

Wow. I couldn't imagine not having a Christmas Morning service. I mean, it would be lovely for me personally after all the craziness the day before and the long night. But it just feels wrong somehow. We don't have much demand, though...perhaps 30 people as opposed to 250+ for the Christmas Eve services. But for those who come, it's very special.

And if it snows on Christmas this year, we know who jinxed it!

 

[The Liturgist]

Wow. I couldn't imagine not having a Christmas Morning service. I mean, it would be lovely for me personally after all the craziness the day before and the long night. But it just feels wrong somehow. We don't have much demand, though...perhaps 30 people as opposed to 250+ for the Christmas Eve services. But for those who come, it's very special.

And if it snows on Christmas this year, we know who jinxed it!

The Episcopalian parish of which I was a member, until the retirement of my friend Fr. Steven, a priest with disposition and hieratic dignity, most graceful and pious, who used Eucharistic Prayer A and Eucharistic Prayer C primarily, the latter in the fall, Eucharistic Prayer B in Lent, and who tried to avoid D due to the fixed preface, who has since his retirement lost his vision, please pray for him, was one of those which was unable to sustain a Christmas Day liturgy and barely held onto a Christmas Sunday liturgy, to Fr. Steve’s regret. Nonetheless they celebrated a spectacularly beautiful and well-attended Christmas Eve liturgy with a thurifer and consistently traditional music, which pleased even those of us who habitually attended the Said Service at 8 AM (but sometimes I would stay on for the main service; there was a lovely breakfast between the two, a good time to visit, followed by a lovely lunch, and liturgically I love a double-header; I lament in my church in those parishes where Matins happens on Sunday morning rather than Saturday night it leads directly into the Divine Liturgy despite this not being required, perhaps because of the Eucharistic fast and the impossibility of celebrating more than one Eucharist per priest per altar or antimension per day (the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day liturgies coexist because the former is a Vesperal Divine Liturgy and is preceded by the Royal Hours and Typika service, since the liturgical day ends with Vesperal Divine Liturgies even if conversely it otherwise begins with Vespers).

By the way the Episcopal Church in question was one of those happy parishes that normally had good attendance, even in 2013-2014. That in St. George, Utah had good attendance a couple of years ago (which is fitting even though sadly St. George is not named for the patron saint of England whose flag along with a stylized version of that of St. Andrew form the basis of the Episcopal flag, which I’ve always loved; at some point I’ll probably post a thread in Liturgical Theology on ecclesiastical vexillology since I’ve done liturgical colors, vestments and a few other subjects.

 

[The Liturgist]

Probably. Christmas has been so thoroughly marketed as a family day and taken over by football and basketball that a lot of churches, even liturgical churches, cancel anyway. I haven't presided a Christmas Day service since I left Virginia; no one wants it. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday there was some snow out but not a lot. I had a terrible time finding somewhere to take my kids. The Romans had pared down there usual 3 Mass schedule to only 1. I ended taking them to a Lessons & Carols service at the local Methodist Church.

A variant of Lessons and Carols caused my attachment to the Gospel of St. Matthew. I have no favorite and dislike the three year lectionary because I like to hear all three, although in another CF subforum I will be posting starting today the lections for Year D. I meant to do this three years ago, and three weeks ago, but alas health took its toll. For Anglicans who like the RCL and have liturgical discretion, year D I think fixed most of the problems raised in an excellent 1995 article by a Canadian Anglican priest, although i still prefer the classic lectionary, especially of the 1928 American BCP.

 

[RamiC]

Probably. Christmas has been so thoroughly marketed as a family day and taken over by football and basketball that a lot of churches, even liturgical churches, cancel anyway. I haven't presided a Christmas Day service since I left Virginia; no one wants it. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday there was some snow out but not a lot. I had a terrible time finding somewhere to take my kids. The Romans had pared down there usual 3 Mass schedule to only 1. I ended taking them to a Lessons & Carols service at the local Methodist Church.

That is really sad, although well done for finding the Lessons and Carols. Midnight Mass that actually runs anywhere near midnight is getting harder to find in the UK, and it does not work for me to be done by 11:00pm.

 

[Paidiske]

Probably. Christmas has been so thoroughly marketed as a family day and taken over by football and basketball that a lot of churches, even liturgical churches, cancel anyway. I haven't presided a Christmas Day service since I left Virginia; no one wants it. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday there was some snow out but not a lot. I had a terrible time finding somewhere to take my kids. The Romans had pared down there usual 3 Mass schedule to only 1. I ended taking them to a Lessons & Carols service at the local Methodist Church.

It's interesting how different we are culturally. Australia is a much less churched culture, but cancelling Christmas would be unthinkable in churches here.

Now that I'm not "in charge" somewhere, it feels really strange to me to realise that I only need to do one Christmas service; normally, there's the carols, and the crib service, and the midnight (or as late in the evening as the congregation will tolerate), and probably two on Christmas morning...